Hydraulic press.



PATENTED SEPT. 8, 1908.

5 SHEBTS-SHBET 1.

mm 2 cm kw ww r i A 5 4 @H n i ww mg w m& 4 fi a mew v H Mm Q. fi Z \E g2 mm m Wm H? g a m g N 3 III! F [QM F p a w 1% a mm m W a 3 mm 3 z um i8 wm an Q m xvi/d NH w f z m a m W y F W T. E. HOLMES. HYDRAULIC PRESS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 22, 1907.

yaw

PATENTED SEPT. 8, 1908.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

T. E. HOLMES. HYDRAULIC PRESS. APPLICATION FILED AUG. '22, 1907.

NO- 898,865. PA TENTBD SEPT. s, 1908.

T. E. HOLMES. HYDRAULIC PRESS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 22, 1907.

5 SHEBTS SHEET 5.

32 m as 33 BEST. AVAILABLE cop? BEST AVAILABLE COPY r1 r1 r TED STATESPATENT OFFICE,

THOMAS EDMUND HOLMES, OF SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND, ASSIGN OR OF ONE-HALF TODAVY- BROTHERS LIMITED, OF SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND, .A CORPORATION.

' HYDRAULIC rREss.

' To all whom it may. conc n: I

' Be it known that l, THoMAs EDMUND HOLMES, a subject of the Kin ofGreat Brit ain, and'resident of 8 Oakda e road, Nether Edge, Sheffield,in the county of York, England, engineer and chief draftsman, haveinvented certain new and useful Im rove enabling a press be workedslowly with long'strokes or ments in Hydraulic Presses, of which t efollowing is a specification, 10

This invention relates to hydraulic forging presses and the like workedby means of steam hydraulic intensifier apparatus, and wherein thevalves for controlhng the admission and exhaust of steam to and fromthe, intensifier and lifting cylinders and for controll the connectionsbetween'th air vessel an the high )ressure hydrauli 1 system are-allcontrolled y a single handing lever.

The invention has for its object to'simplify and eilrlpedite the actionof the press by its movements (whether the rapidly with short strokes)to be controlled by means of the single handing lever referred tively tothe intensifier cylinder and to the lifting cylinders are controlled bindependent valves, the steamsupply an exhaust to and from theintensifier cylinder being preferably controlled by separate dro valvesactuated by means of automatical y acting hunting gear adapted both toprevent excess ive movement of the intensifier steam piston and also tocause steamto be cut off from the intensifier cylinder at a point in thestroke of the'piston corresponding to the position to Y which thehanding lever has been set. While,

however the valves appertaining to the intensifier cyhnder are coupledto the building lever permanently, the valve or valves contripmechanism, in such manner that steam trolling the steam supply andexhaust to and from the lifting. cylinders is or are coupled to the samehanding lever dctachably through the medium of automatically acting isnormally admitted to the lifting cylinders but is exhausted therefromduring the earlier s Specification of Letters Patent. Application filedAugust 22, 1907. Serial No. 389,659.

' of rest.

Patented Sept. s, 1908.

part of the longer pressing strokes of the main ram, all the requisiteopening and closing movements of the various valves, in-

either method of working, bein produced simply by the oscillation of thesingle'handing lever through different ortions of its own maximumpossible ang ar movement.

The invention will be described with refer-- ence to the accompanyingdrawings wherein Figure 1 is an elementary (or partly dia'- grammatic)elevation of a forging press with steam hydraulic intensifier a paratusadapt ed to be controlled by a sin lb handing lever as above stated, theparts being in position Fig. 2 is a similar view of the handing leverthe valves, and parts more immediately associated therewith drawn to aadmission and exhaust of steam to and from the lifting cylinders of theress, and the connections betweeii said va ve and levers,

in various positions occupied durin the workin of the press. Fig. 8 is adetai view of another valve, drawn to a larger scale.

Similar reference numerals denote corresponding parts throughout thedrawings.

larger scale. Figs. 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 are views of the handing lever, thevalve for controlling 1 is the anvil or bed-die; 2 the pres shead'; 3 i

the main hydraulic rain connected to the presshead; 4 the cylinderwherein the ram 3 works; 5, 5 are the lifting cylinders wherein work thepistons 6, 6 which are coupled to the presshead 2 by the rods 7, 7; 8 isthe steam piston of the intensifier, this piston working in thecylindert) and having a piston rod 10 in one with the hydraulic ram 1 1of the intensifier, and 12 is the cylinder wherein the ram 11 works, thecylinders 4 and 12 being connected by the hydraulic high pressure pipe13.

n the example illustrated, the supply and exhaust of steam to and fromthe intensifier cylinder 9 are controlled respectively by double-beatdrop valves 14 and 15, steam from the boiler being admitted as at 16 tothe chamber-17 of the supply valve 14 and passing thcnce on the openingof said valve, by a passage 18 to the chamber 19 of the exhaust valve15, which chamber 19 is in permanent connnunication through a passagcQOwith the lower end of the cylinder 9.

The supply and exhaust of steam to and from the lifting cylinders 5 arecontrolled. by means of a single piston valve .21 whose chamber 22 is inwnnmunication on the one BEST AVAILABLE copy hand through the passage 23with the inteni through the medium of automatically acting sifier steamsu ply valve chamber 17 and therefore with t e main steam inlet '16 andon the other hand through the pipe 24 and branch pipes 25 with the lowerends of the respective lifting cylinders 5.

26 and 27 are respectively theexhaust steam pipes leading from the valvechambers 19 and 22 to the main exhaust pipe 28.

29 is the air vessel, which communicates with the hydraulic highpressure pipe 13 through the branch pipe 30.. This pipe (in exampleillustrated) is controlled by a valve 31, (see Fig. 8) which is normallyheld closed by the pressure in the pipe 13 but is adapted to openautomatically under the ressure in' the air vessel 29, so as to allow te pipe 13 and cylinders 4 and 12 to become filled with water when therains 3 and 11 descend by their own weight and thus create a partialvacuum in the hydraulic high pressure sy tem. When this system is fullof water and the ram 3 is to be raised preparatory to making a workingstroke, the valve 31 is opened positively so as to allow waterto bereturned to the air vessel. This may be effected by means of fluidpressure admitted to a cylinder 32 wherein works a piston 33 coupled tothe valve 31, the admission and exhaust of motive fluid to and from thecylinder 32 be-.

ing controlled by means of a slide valve 34 working in a chamber 35constantly supplied as at'36 with said fluid. Normally the valve 34maintains communication between its exhaust ipe 37 and the pipe 38 whichconnects the cylinder 32 and valve chamber35, so that the valve 31 ispermitted .to remain on its seat, but when water is to be returned fromthe pipe 13 to the air vessel 29, the slide valve 34 is actuated toclose the exhaust 37 and admit fluid pressure to the cylinder 32,

such movement .of the slide valve being offected at the proper time (inopposition to a weight 39 tending to maintain the valve in the normalposition shown in Figs. 1 and 2) by means of the banding lever 40 whichis then brought into position to actuate a tappet 41 connected to theslide valve.

In small presses the valve 31 may be opened, to allow the return ofwater from the pipe 13 to the air vessel, not by fluid pressure admittedbeneath a piston 33 under the control of the handing lever 40 as abovede scribed, but by manual power transmitted from the handin lever to thevalve through the medium of ever and link mechanism. The handing lever40 is mounted to oscillate about a fixed fulcrum 42, and in the exampleillustrated has three arms whereof the shorter arms 43 and 44 arerespectively coupled to the mechanisms for controlling the movement ofthe valves 14., 15 and 21 uppertaining to the intensifcr and liftingcylinders respectively. Preferably, as shown the intensifier steamvalves 1'4, 15 are controlled preferred tolemploy, and which isillustrated in Fig. 1., is constructed as follows: The stems 45 and 46ofthe valves 14 and15 are respectively coupled through pin-and-slotconnections as at 47 and 48 to a lever 49. mounted to oscillate about afixed fulcrum 50 one arm of thelever 49 being coupled through a link 51to an intermediate point 52 in the length of a floating lever 53 whereofone end is connected to the arm 43 of the bandin lever while the otherend is connected by a link 54 to the control mechanism of the huntinggear."" Since, in the arrangement illustrated, the pressure of the steamas it passes to the intensifier cylinder 9.will tend to'hold open thesteam sup ly valve 14, this valve is permanently loa ed mountedjupon theram 11 and caused by the reeiprocations of the latter to roll up anddown in contact with the bar. The bar 56 is supported as at 58, 59 byone arm of each of a pair of bell-crank levers mounted to os'cillateabout fixed fulcrums 60, 61 the other arms 62, 63 of the respectivelevers being coupled by a link 64 winch may also serve to carry acounterweight 65 tending to maintain the bar 56 in the normal positionshown in Figs. 1 and 2. The arm 62 of one of the levers is coupled bythe link 54, already mentioned, to the floating ever 53.

In the normal or resting position ofthe various parts, as indicated inFigs. 1 and 2, the banding lever 40 occupies a mid position 407', tothe. left-hand side of which are the various positions that may beassumed by the lever when the press-hezul 2 is performing a workingstroke. if attention be confined for the moment to the hunting gear andparts controlled thereby, it will be seen that if the handing lever bemoved towards the leftti. e. in the. direction of the arrow 1*) to anyparticular angular distance from the mid position 40, and is held insuch new position, thus opening to a. corresponding extent the steamsupply valve 14, it follows gradually close automatically. Ilene-e alsothe piston 8 will be prevented from overrunmng its full legitimateactive stroke in conse quence of the momentum acquired when the handinglever40 is held over in the extreme left-hand position, since the actionof the hunting-gear will have for effect to cause the steam supply valve14' to close so gradually,

before the piston has reached theend of its upward stroke, that themomentum of the iston will be gradually-absorbed instead of eingsuddenly checked. The piston valve 21 is normally disconnected from thehandin lever 40, and rests by gravity against a stop,

66 in position to enable steam to gain access to the underside of thelifting pistons'6.

From this position the valve 21 maybe raised during a certain part ofthe stroke of the handing lever, so as to cut off the steam supply tothe lifting'cylinders 5 and 0 en the latter to exhaust, by first movingt io handing lever towards theright (i. e. in the direction 'of thearrow y) to a position wherein a plunger .67, permanently coupled to thearm 44,, 3

becomes automatically interlocked with a socket 68 wherein the plungerisfitted to ermanently coupled The result is that when the movement of thebanding lever is reversed, the valve 21 will participate in the upwardmovcmentof the arm 44 until the longer 67 and socket 68 become auto-.matlcally disconnected, whereupon although the movement of thehani'lingleverctowards the left may continue, the valve 21 will fall back to itsnormal position.

' The trip mechanism whereby the plunger 67 and socket 68 are thusautomatically "ngaged with and disengaged from one another, comprises alatch-bolt 70,fitted to slide-trans versely through an aperture in thewall of the socket 68 and constantly pressed inwards by a spring 71 soas to tend to become interlocked with a notcu 72 in the side of theplunger 67 when the latter has entered a certain distance into thesocket, and a bell-cra'nk lever 73 [ulcrurned to the socket CS andengaging by one of its arms with the latch bolt '70 so that,when thesocket 654 has been raised so as to cause the other arm oftho lever'73to encounter a fixed stop 74, this lc'ver will be actuated, the

latch-bolt T l will be withdrawn from the notch 72, and the socket 68will befree to fall soas to allow the valve 21 to return to restingposition on its seat 66.

It will be observed that so long as the various arts are in the positionshown ,in Fig. 1, witi the banding lever in its mid or neutral position40 and both the intensifier and main hydraulic rams 11 and 3 resting atthe BEST AVAILABLE coPYa w'ard movement of the ram 3 can result from thesteam pressure on the pistons 5. If, now, itbe desired to set the pressin operation water must first belet out of the pipe 13 so as to enablethe pistons 5 to raise the main ram 3 and presshead 2 suificiently toaccommodate the work on the anvil 1. For .this purpose the slide valve34 must be actuated in the manner already described for opening thevalve 31, and this is done by moving thehanding lever from the neutralposition 40 towards the right (i. e. in the direction of the arrow y)until on reaching the the ever lifts the tap et 41 and so causes motivefluid to be admitted beneath the .piston 33, the consequentopening ofthe valve 31 removing the obstruction to the upward movement of the ram3and pistons 6. The handing lever being new at the osition 40" (or alittle to the right thereof) t o nature of its further movements willdepend upon whether it is desired to work the ress with long or shortand rapid strokes. n the latexhaustion of the cylinder {6 beingtherefore unnecessary, the handing lever may be tion at the left of itsneutral position 40 between which and the ex ureme left-hand posis tion40 (see Fig. 4) corresponding to the full 3 to be driven down repeatedlyand rapidly in opposition to the steam pressure on the pistons 6 wherebyit is promptly raised at If, however, it be desired to work the presswith long (and relatively slow-) strokes, it is necessary to exhaust thelifting cylinders 5 so as to allow the presshead 2 to drop, and also tokeep these cylinders exhausted during the earlier portion of the workingstroke of the press (or until the steam inlet valve 14 of theintensifier has been slightly'opened) so to'prevent the prcss headrising until the working or pressing stroke has commenced. It is alsodesirable to again admit steam to the lifting cylinders 5 during thepressing stroke, or when the steam inlet valve 14 is opened, so as,without sensibly checking the ,force withwhich the ram 3 descends, topro vide an elastic cushion of live steam beneath the pistons 6 inreadiness (the moment required) to cause the-ram 3 to be properly raisedin preparation for another working stroke. In this case the bandinglever must be moved beyond the position 40" towards the right until, onthe lever reaching the (X- osition 40 (see Fig. 3) the arm 43 of.

opening of the valve 14, the handing lever may then be oscillated so asto cause the ram versal of the stroke of the prcsshcad 2 is rcdrauliccylinders 12 and 4 and their connecting pi e 13 will be full -of waterand consequent y (the-valve 31, being closed) no upter case a permanentelastic cushion of live steam 18 required beneath the pistons 6, and

moved directly back from 40 to any osieach reverse movement of thehanding lever. 1

treme right hand position 40 (see Fig. 5)

.the latch-bolt 70 engages the notch 72. On the handing lever passingthe position 40',

the valve 31 will as before be opened and the.

" from the lifting cylinders which will also then begin to be opened tothe exhaust with the result that the presshead 2, having by this timebeen raised to the desired extent, will he allowed to descend by gravityon to the work, meanwhile drawing water from the air vessel 29 into thepipe 13 so as to fill up the hydraulic high pressure svstem. Thecontinuance of the' movement of the handing lever towards the left willopen the valve 21 fully to exhaust and will so retain it during the idledescent of the presshead, and during that first portion of the pressingstroke of the ram 3 which commences on the handing lever passing itsneutral position 40 and be-- 25 ginning to open the steam valve 14.l/Vhen however, the handing lever reaches the position 40 (see Fig. '7)whereat the bell-crank lever 73 encounters the sto 74, the latchbolt 70will be tri ed and t e valve 21 will l fall, closing the li tingcylinders 5 to the exhaust and again admitting steam' under the pistons6, so that the remainder of the workmg stroke of the ram 3 (during whichthe handing lever may be moved from 40to 40) will be performed against acushion of live steam in the cylinders 5. On the com letion of a longworking stroke, the han ing lever is returned towards the right-handside of its neutral position thus opening the 40 intensifier steamexhaust valve 15, while, be- .fore another long stroke is begun thehanding lever is moved to the extreme right-hand position 40, the entirecycle of operations already described being thereafter gone through.

If at an time while the press is being worked with short strokes itshould be found that the presshead 2 is too high, the handing lever mustbe moved to the position 40 so as,

by causing the valve 21 to be 0 ened to exhaust on the reversal oftheham ing lever, to enable the presshead to descend on to the work (or asfar as may be re uired) before proceeding with the short stro es.

When it is desired to bring the parts to the position of rest shown inFig. l, the handing lever must first be moved to the positionAO and thenbrought to and let in the neutral position 40.

It will be observed that by the use of the present invention the loss oftime hitherto involved in changing from the long-stroke to theshort-stroke method of working and vice versa is saved, which isimportant as the number of such changes and consequent BEST AVAILABLECOPY waste of valuable time in forging each piece is often considerable.The operator also finds it to his own advantage to \vifirk on theshort-stroke method, since this requires much less labor than isinvolved in moving the handing leverthrough its full travel, as

required for long strokes. Hence the tendency will always be to work theress with short and rapid strokes, which wi l secure a further economyboth in time and in steam consumption. Time will be saved inas-' much aswhen working with long strokes the prcsshead is liable to be liftedunnecessarily high, and steam will be economized because the steampressure being constantly 0 admitted tothe lifting cylinders,condensation in the latter will be reduced.

A further advantage is to be found in the ease and simplicity of theworking of the press, the operator being able to use'both 5 hands formoving the handing lever. Moreover, if hunting-gear (such for example asabove described) be used for controlling the intensifier steam valves 14and 15, there is no idle movement of the handing lever in working thesevalves, so that the travel of the handing leverin actuating said valvesis relatively much less than in presses of the usual type.

I claim:

1. The combination of a hydraulic press, steam hydraulic intensifier ap)aratns for operating the same, an air vessel, valves for controllingthe admission and exhaust of steam to and from the intensifier and thelifting cylinders of the press and for controlling ;the connectionbetween the high pressureh draulic system and the air vessel, a sing ehand lever for operating all ofsaid valves, connections between saidlever 1'05 and the several valves, and trip mechanism interposed in theconnection between the lever and the valve appertaining to the liftingcylinders and adapted to automatically couple and uncouple said valve toand from the lever in such manner that steam will be normally admittedto the lifting cylinders but will be exhausted therefrom during theearlier part of the working strokes of the press when working with longstrokes.

2. The combination with a hydraulic press and a steam hydraulicintensifier apparatus for operating the same, and valves for controllingthe admission and exhaust of steam to and from the intensifier and thelifting 0371- inders of the press, of a single lever for operating saidvalves and trip mechanism interposed between the lever and the valve ofthe lil ting cylinders for coupling and uncoupling said valve to andfrom the lever at predc- 1.25 tel-mined intervals, whereby to permit thesteam to'cxhaust from the lifting cylinders during the early part of thestroke when the p ess is working on long strokes.

3. The combination with a hydraulic press for operating the same, andvalves lever at predetermined A to permit the steam to exhaust from the]and a steam hydraulic intensifier apparatus or contro the admission. andexhaust of steam to an from the intensifier-and the lifting cylinders ofthe press and for eontrollin' the connection between the airves'selamfi'the high pressure hydraulic system, of a single lever foroperating all of said valves, and trip mechanism inte osed between thelever; and the valve of the fting c linders for coupling and uncouplingsaid va ve to-and' from the intervals, whereby lifting cylinders duringthe early part ofthe stroke when the press is working on long strokes. Ia

4. Thecombination of a hydrauliepress,

Y steam hydraulic intensifierap aratus for operating the same, anairsvesse valves for controlling the admission and exhaust of steam toand from .the Yintensifier and the lifting cylinders of the press andfor controlling the connection between the high pressure h draulicsystem and the air ves-' sel, a sing e.lever fo'r operating all 'ofsaidvalves, hunting gear. com mg to maintaina-pre etermined angular rising alever tend- 4 BEST AVAILABLE COPY I position and earn mechanism 0 eratedby the placinsaid ist0n of the intensifier for p I ever to an angularextent corresponding to the advance 0 handing lever, and to t saidpiston, a floating lever connected to said huntin gearlever, to, the ehe valves for con-- trolling the admission .and exhaust ofjsteain Y Y toand "from the intensifier, connections between the hand lever andthe'valve-for eon-i 1 trolling thefconnection between the high pressurehydraulic system and the 'air vessel.

and between the hand lever-and the valve 1 trip mechanism inter osed thelast thenfor controlling the-admission and exhaust-of stearntoandifro-m-ithe lifting7tcylinders, and i tionedconne'etion an adapted toautornatienormallfl admitted to the lifting "cylinders but wilbe.exhausted'therefrom during the allyeouple andun'couple to and: fromthe earlier art'of -thetvorkingstrokes'b the press wlien'working withlon strokes.

r v THOMAS 1 )1':1,=, HOLM S; Wit'nesses:4 Y

CHAS; N. DANiELs.

